Narayanan takes sole lead in Asian Junior chess

MUMBAI: Grandmaster SL Narayanan clinched the sole lead in the Asian Junior Chess Championship being held in New Delhi on Tuesday.
Playing with white pieces in Semi-Slav game, Narayanan defeated Rajdeep Sarkar in just 36 moves. Narayanan exploited the opening mistake committed by his rival to gain an exchange up and then there was no looking back for him.
Other overnight joint leaders Grandmaster Karthikeyan Murali and Iranian International Master Mousavi Seyed Khalil signed the peace treaty in 31 moves.Top seed Aravindh Chithamabaram defeated Arjun Kalyan. Aravindh along with Karthikeyan, Mousavi and Nima Javanbakht of Iran, who defeated Sammed Jaykumar Shete are at No. 2 spot with 6 points. In the final round on Wednesday, Narayanan will take on Mousavi, while Aravindh and Karthikeyan are paired against Javanbakht and Rajdeep respectively.
In the girls section, top seed Vaishali along with country mate K Priyanka and Mongolian girl Uuriintuya Uurtsaikh lead the table. Vaishali held Ivan Maria Furtado, while Priyanka outwitted Chandreyee Hajra and Uuriintuya beat Balakannamma. In the last round, Vaishali is paired against Uurinntuya, while Priyanka will battle it out against Nandhidhaa P V.
Important Results (Indian otherwise stated): Open Round-8 :- GM Karthikeyan Murali (6) drew with IM Mousavi Seyed Khalil of Iran (6); GM SL Narayanan (6.5) beat FM Rajdeep Sarkar (5.5); Arjun Kalayan (5) lost to Aravindh Chithambaram (6); FM Nima Javanbakht of Iran (6) beat Sammed Jaykumar Shete (5); IM Mosadeghpour Masoud (5.5) beat Utkal Ranjan Sahoo (4.5); Shailesh Dravid (4.5) lost to Harsha Bharathakoti (5.5); Rahul Srivatshav P (5) drew with Srijit Paul (5); Rakesh Kumar Jena (5) drew with Rakesh Kumar Nayak (5); Ankit Gajwa (5) beat Ganesh R (4); Isakzhanov Kelsinbek of Kyrgyzstan (4.5) drew with Dhulipala Bala Chandra Prasad (4.5).
Girls Round-8 :- WIM Ivana Maria Furtado (5.5) drew with WFM Vaishali R (6); WCM Chandreyee Hajra (5.5) lost to Priyanka K (6); Uuriintuya Uurtsaikh of Mongolia (6) beat Bala Kannamma P (5); WFM Varshini V (4.5) lost to Harshita Guddanti (5.5); Shweta Gole (4.5) lost to WIM Nandhidhaa P V (5.5); Hamedi Nia Vesal of Iran (5) drew with Priyanka Nutakki (5); Sunyuktha CMN (5) drew with WIM Michelle Catherina (4.5); WIM Sakshi Chitlange (5) beat Akshya Nandakumar (4); Shanya Mishra (5) beat Divya Lakshmi R (4); WCM Ananya Suresh (5) beat Sanskriti Goyal (4).